You Can't Stop Twinkling
by Smokeyboi
Summary: Yuyu Aoyama had been good at one thing for most of her life, and that was reading the emotions of her and those around her; naturally, this talent leads her to acknowledge her crush on one of her only friends. Female Yuga, the first chapter is set right before the whole 1-A vs 1-B thing.
1. Chapter 1

The whole class, including Aizawa, had noticed it - after all, it would be incredibly difficult not to - Aoyama had not just been stealing looks at Midoriya, but had been practically a kleptomaniac with her crystal blue eyes. Her teacher couldn't necessarily reprimand her for it, well he could, it was his class, but he didn't feel like it. Her grades hadn't dropped, if anything they'd improved ever since she spent more time around the green-haired boy.

Well, one person hadn't noticed, conveniently being the very one Yuyu had set her sights on.

Yuyu's thoughts, in a rare moment of foolishness, had wandered away from the lesson, although her gaze slowly returned forward. Homeroom was soon ending, she surmised, as she made no effort to pay attention.

Homeroom, however, did not end for another five minutes, and her clocking out had attracted attention from several sources, notably Iida and Aizawa, who had obviously scolded her for such aloofness.

But the worst, by far, had been Midoriya, in his everlasting pursuit to be helpful, he just _had _to plant himself right in front of her desk and ask in that oh-so-innocent voice of his, "Are you alright? Do you feel sick?"

"Ah, yes, I am fine. Just distracted _un peu,_" She said as an uncomfortable pit, not too dissimilar to when she overused her quirk, formed in her stomach. "Now, we should follow them, _qui?_"

After a quick, uneventful sigh and a second quick confirmation of her good health to the resident worrywart of 1-A, Yuyu stood up and fell in line with the rest of her class, trying to look anywhere but at the back of Midoriya's head.

The blonde then looked within herself, recalling her fight against Thirteen during the midterms and her words to her teammate: _You like him, don't you? _She swallowed dryly and cursed herself for that bout of what _must _be irony. Her ability to read emotions extended to herself, thankfully, which brought with it its own set of problems regarding the 'problem child'; despite this, she overcame her inner turmoil and -

"Aoyama, are you alright?" Oh dear, was she mumbling the whole time? Had she picked that up from Midoriya?

Oh dear, again, she was about to walk right into the door frame, apparently the rush of students that were leaving school had jostled her into its path, or perhaps she had always been walking there and a third thing slipped her mind; she knew _what _she felt, but knew not how she could prevent these same feelings from getting in the way.

She tried her hardest to act flamboyant as usual, striking a pose that had to be uncomfortable as she said, "Oh yes, I'm quite alright, there's just a lot on my mind." She forced a chuckle through as she noticed Midoriya's gaze intensify.

"Are you sure? You've been acting odd all day. It's fine if you feel under the weather and wanna go to Recovery Girl," His features softened under the fluorescent light of the school's hallway, and she could hear rather feminine giggles from others at their school, probably misunderstanding her classmate's worry to be affection.

"Well, I have a rather, _personal_ problem, and I was simply wondering how to approach Ashido for help," Another thing she was good at was thinking on her feet.

"Ok, if you _do _feel unwell, just tell me, we're friends, right?" Midoriya asked, smiling and walking away.

And there it was, that damnable knot in her stomach again, as though her body was sending her a message that her brain knew very well.

Perhaps talking to Ashido wouldn't be such a bad idea.

Through a deafening cacophony of acoustic guitar and slow, rhythmic piano, Mina's heretofore well-constructed music had suddenly developed a proclivity towards sporadic, increasingly loud sounds which reminded the alien-looking girl of a door being knocked on, or perhaps someone was actually knocking on her door.

She stood up from her bed, putting down her quarter-finished homework which would make even a moderately intelligent person, such as the avian who resided in the same building as her, scoff in incredulity and opened the door.

"Aoyama?" she asked, unused to the oddly grim face that the Frenchie was making, "Are you alright?"

"Physically, I am fine, but," Yuyu scanned the room, before settling on the floor before her feet, "I have a favor to ask, _c'est très urgent._"

Mina gulped, the delivery of her friend's words and the unflinching expression only served to make her anxiety skyrocket, "O-of course, what's wrong?"

"Well, you see, _mon amie,_ I have a, how do you say, a… " Just because she knew what she felt didn't mean that she knew how to just come out and say it, "A crush, yes, that, on Midoriya."

"Oh, i-is that it?" Mina's mood instantly lightened, she had expertise in this field and was glad that Yuyu hadn't needed help with an algebra problem or something like that.

"Well, I didn't think it was such a small thing," Yuyu mumbled, before raising her head and speaking in a more clear tone, "But yes, I figured that you or Hagaruke would be the best to ask about such a thing."

"Well, you're definitely right about that," The pink girl perked up, "Oh, for the record, I totally knew you liked him; I think everyone does, it's super obvious the way you're always clinging to him."

"_Mon Dieu,_" Yuyu gasped, her slender fingers covering her agape mouth, "Well, I suppose if there's no secret, I might as well just ask what I can do to get his attention."

"If you want my honest opinion," Mina smirked, her hand grasping her chin, "I'd just ask him out," Gauging her friend's reaction, she pushed further, "He seems like a fairly timid guy, I figure it'd be easy if you're blunt about it." Looking once more at the other girl in the room, her words had suddenly about-faced in their message, "But if that's too straightforward, maybe you could try getting in on his activities, you know? Maybe you could ask him for help studying, that's probably what I would do if I were in your shoes."

"Thank you, Ashido, for the advice," Yuyu finished, stiff as a board before nearly spinning on the spot and walking out in much the same mortified manner, thinking of things that she knew the green-haired boy would like before her eyes widened in realization.


	2. Chapter 2

To say Midoriya was surprised was an understatement; when he told Aoyama that she could come to him with any problems she had, he hadn't literally meant to come to his room at 5:30 in the morning on a Saturday.

Today was supposed to be his day to sleep in - to _at least _6:45, dammit!

"What brings you here?" The boy yawned, keeping his tired disappointment to himself.

"I have _une confession_: I did not tell the truth yesterday," The girl had some kind of weird aura around her which exuded vitality, and her speech appeared as though she slept with no issues last night, which was far from the truth, "You see, there is something bothering me."

A kind of awkward silence reigned over the two before Izuku finally got the hint and decided to pry, "I'm happy to help, what's wrong?"

Yuyu, in-kind, responded, "It is hard for me to admit this, but I am not, err, la _personne plus sportive._" After her talk with Mina the night prior, she realized that approaching Midoriya about something academic would probably just result in him redirecting her to Tenya or Momo, but the only other person she could think of to ask for help working out was Katsuki, with whom Izuku was not on the friendliest terms, "I come seeking your help in this."

"Don't get wrong, I'm glad you reached out to me for help, but is there any reason you had to reach out to me so early?" Izuku rubbed his eyes, before forcing himself to stand up higher on his doorframe.

"It would be awkward if a girl were to come up to your room in front of your friends, _non?_" Yuyu had to look at Izuku's nose to avoid staring at his eyes or lips.

"I mean, I guess, but you could've -" The boy sighed, rubbing his eyes, "Is today alright? Can I come and get you at, say, ten? That's usually when I start, and I'm really tired at the moment."

"_D'accord. _Thank you for your time, Midoriya." Yuyu waved in a somehow flashy manner before turning around and wiping a thin layer of sweat from her hairline.

"No problem." Izuku closed his door and got into bed, pondering just how odd the girl was.

Aoyama couldn't really be described as a habitually anxious person, for the most part. Today, however, was testing the limits of that statement as she paced around her room, debating internally whether or not she should go back to Izu - err, Midoriya's room, or if that would be too pushy.

"Come in!" She said in much too loud of a voice as a knocking on her door roused her from her thoughts.

"Sorry, did I startle you?" Speaking of, or rather think, the devil - just the person she was looking for.

"_Je m'excuse, _I was just distracted," Yuyu coughed into her hand, dispelling the aura of awkwardness surrounding her person, "Thanks for honoring my request."

"Ah, it's really no problem," Izuku couldn't help but blush, being in a girl's room with said girl being his _only _company, "Sorry if I seemed snappy earlier, I was just tired."

"Oh, that was _aucun problème, mon ami,_" Yuyu put a hand under one of her long, curly locks and flipped it, "Now, _on y va?_"

_Yeah, this is way more awkward than Tokoyami or Mineta seeing her come to my room would've been. Maybe not Mineta. _Izuku held onto his neutral, somewhat anxious expression, his companion's - as normal - impassive face not calming him at all.

"You look pale," Yuyu commented, and Izuku considered that she might not be putting on a facade.

"Sorry," The slightly taller boy pondered on a lie for a moment, "I've just never done this kind of thing, you know? I'm a little nervous."

"It…" The girl came to a sudden realization of their situation, "Well, it's fine, we shouldn't worry about what others think, _qui?_"

Ok, so maybe she did _kind of _have a calming effect on him, "I guess you're right, it's just," He rubbed the back of his head, before leading Yuyu over to a rack with dumbbells on it, "Well I've never had - I… I _don't _have a lot of friends here, so doing casual things like this is kind of foreign," He picked two bright green weights, which Yuyu noted had a white 5 on the side of it, "But anyway, let's start,"

"Whew, this isn't so _lou-_," Yuyu attempted to joke with Izuku but bit her tongue when she saw the twenty-five inscribed in the side of weights.

"Oh, I almost forgot! We've gotta stretch," He set his weights down near his ankles, taking care not to drop them, "Stretching is important, so you don't get cramped. Just follow after me."

Yuyu nodded and got into the same stance as Midoriya, her legs further apart than her shoulder, fingers pointing down her thighs. Both then lifted their left arms and leaned their torso to the right, their lifted arms curving around their bodies.

After a return to a normal standing position and several more stretches that got Yuyu to bend in ways that she didn't know was possible, Izuku picked back up his weights, prompting Aoyama to do the same.

Truth be told, now that Yuyu was so far into this, she couldn't help but feel that this was the absolute worst way to get closer to Midoriya. Not that it was particularly difficult or anything - he certainly knew what he was doing - but seeing his muscles strain to lift those heavy weights and feeling his hands on her as he pushed her into proper form - blushing all the time - made her feel some combination of nausea and an emotion she couldn't describe overtaking her.

"Alright, I think that's enough for now," Midoriya said, producing two water bottles; how did he know that she didn't bring one?

Yuyu nearly inhaled the bottle's contents considering she didn't realize how thirsty she was, "Thank you, Midoriya, from _du fond de mon cœur, _if there's anything I can do to repay you, do not hesitate to ask!"

"Ah, it was really no pro -" Izuku looked up and noticed that Aoyama had practically left already and that the stares were piling onto him, "She's so odd," He smirked, "Not that I'm complaining."

"So how'd it go for you?" Mina yawned into her hand, lying on Yuyu's bed, "I assume it went good based off how sweaty you are."

"_Bonsoir _to you as well," She nonchalantly threw her bottle into her bin, "And how did you get in my room?" Maybe it was just how tired she was, or maybe she was just used to uninvited intruders, but she was taking this situation well, all things considered.

"Did you know it's surprisingly easy to pick a lock with a bobby pin? Don't ask where I got the bobby pin." The girl rolled over, "Enough about me, how did it go? Did my advice help?"

"Kind of: I thought that asking for academic help would be fruitless, so I ask him to help me workout; it only made things worse." Yuyu put her face in her hands, "And, while I do acknowledge the benefits of exercise, _Je suis très mal._"

"I don't speak Spanish, but I get what you mean," Mina put her chin in her hands again, "I'd say take a warm shower; but if you wanna be _really _forward, you could go up to Midoriya, take the bull by the horns, and ask him to give you a massage." The unmistakable shade of red, similar in hue to Mina's boyfriend's hair, gave the unique-looking girl a good gauge of what her friend thought of the plan, "Other than that, I don't know, uhhh… just get closer to him; Kiri and I have been friends since middle school."

"Get closer to him, hmm?" Yuyu pondered aloud as she looked at her knees.

"Well anyway, I've been here for an hour, I'm gonna leave," Ashido swung her legs over the bed and walked out, all without shoes.

_You have given me much to think about, Ashido. Much to think about indeed._


	3. Chapter 3

_Maybe I'm just overthinking it, _Izuku put the sponge down after having just finished the dishes, "But she _has _been acting weird lately." He sighed.

"Who's acting weird, Midoriya?" Kirishima asked, digging in the pantry for some unknown item.

"Aoyama," Izuku said plainly, drying his hands on a hand towel, "Have you noticed it?"

"Nope," Kirishima whistled, figuring that if Midoriya was that oblivious, it would need time, "What's been happening?"

"Well, she always seems out of it, you know?" He passed Kirishima a bottle of whey protein, it was pretty much the only thing he ever saw the sharp-toothed boy eat, "And just a few days ago, she started joining me when I work out."

"Is that so?" Kirishima could probably have made a protein shake with all the sweat that was pouring off his head, "But that's not bad, right? I mean, you're her best friend here, right?"

"I guess," Izuku sighed, "The whole thing's just kind of confusing."

"Hello, Aoyama," Izuku said, the girl walking right next to him, "What brings you here?"

"Well, Midoriya," Yuyu threw one hand into the air, and leaned on one leg, "Most people, unfortunately, do not appreciate my _nature fabuleuse._"

"Is that so?" Izuku couldn't help but feel that something was off - Aoyama's normal oddness was toned down in recent days. "Well, you're welcome to sit with me if you'd like."

"Hey Deku, a - and Aoyama," Ochaco said, waving the two, well really just Deku, down.

"Hello Uraraka," Both Izuku and Yuyu answered at the same time, causing Yuyu to giggle and Izuku to look away sheepishly.

_Did she just sit by herself before? _Izuku's grin suddenly flipped, ever so slightly at the thought, _I hope not._

"Ah, welcome, Aoyama!" Iida waved his hands back and forth, something the blonde girl had become accustomed to, "Will you be sitting with us today?"

"Of course," Aoyama closed her eyes and nodded her head, and Izuku couldn't help but stare, "And hopefully _a l'avenir, ainsi._"

It was weird to Aoyama; Midoriya, this boy that she had mistakenly written off as nothing but a social wreck with a quirk that was too powerful for his body, sitting and talking with such wonderous students as Todoroki and Tusuyu was quite the sight - and she was quite glad to be a part of it.

A part of her, however, felt as though she didn't deserve to be here, disregarding everything else, even just their performances at the sports festival could prove that, she reckoned.

"It's just occurred to me," Tsuyu croaked, "We haven't talked much, Aoyama. Really, I don't think I've seen you talk with anyone except Midoriya."

"I've noticed that as well," Shoto said, not looking up from his meal, "If I may ask - is there a reason for that?"

Yuyu regained her composure and exited her thoughts abruptly, "There is a reason,_ Monsieur _Todoroki, but it is rather personal."

Ochaco nearly choked on her rice, her mind filling in the gaps, while Todoroki remained oblivious.

_Everyone has their secrets, _Shoto figured, resuming his meal.

Yuyu had decided to take Mina's advice in the end; sure, she may be independently intelligent, but besides sleep and the gym, the library was more or less the only time he was alone.

"Hello, Midoriya," Yuyu waved at the boy with her free hand, the other carrying an English literature book, "_Ca va?_"

"Yes?" Izuku couldn't speak French, but he guessed what she meant, "How are you?"

"I am - _très bon!_" Yuyu grinned widely, she was considerably more energetic than earlier, but would not tell the person responsible for that. "Fancy meeting you here_._"

"Ah, yeah," Izuku rubbed the back of his head, the red clearly evident on his face, "I was wondering if you could help me study for the English test on Friday? You seem to know a lot about English when you answer in class."

"Huh?" It was Yuyu's turn to blush, "You need _my _help?" She pointed to herself incredulously, "I mean - I would be happy to help!"

They sat down in a quiet corner of the library and Yuyu opened up her book.

Izuku sighed, then looked over at Aoyama, "Can I ask a… personal question?"

Confused, Aoyama looked up from her book, "_Bien sûr._"

"Earlier, at lunch," Izuku swallowed, he knew it would be awkward, but he had resigned himself to asking this, "When you told me why you wanted to sit with me, did you mean that you don't have many friends?"

The girl looked down, unsure of how to start, "Remember when we talked - during the quirk strengthening?" She looked up, Izuku nodded, and her expression was grim, "Well, because I've never had a quirk that was 'compatible' with my body, I've never been especially popular."

"Is that why you moved here?" Izuku swallowed again, this felt too familiar.

"Well, that wasn't the only reason," Aoyama bit her bottom lip and tears threatened to spill from her eyes, "But that is one bigger reason my parents didn't want me to stay in France."

"Aoyama, I -" Izuku paused, "I don't know what to say." His heart guided him as he stood up and he almost broke in two when he saw the betrayed expression on his friend's face; he walked over to her, "So I won't say anything." He embraced the girl in a hug, and tears started to stain his shirt.

"I'm sorry for crying so much," Aoyama hiccuped, "But I can't stop these tears."

"Shh," Izuku hadn't really thought this far, "It's okay; everything's fine. Noone here - none of your _friends _feel that way." He tried rubbing her back in circles like his mother had done when he was a kid.

"Midoriya, could you - would you mind," Aoyama lifted her head from his chest, "Calling me Yuyu?"

Through sheer force of will, Izuku managed to not get embarrassed, for the sake of his friend. _Friend, huh? _"It's not a problem." He couldn't help but look away slightly, "You can call me Izuku if you want, Yuyu."

Yuyu rubbed her eyes dry with her palm-sided wrists, "I would like that." She looked up at him with a renewed smile, "Now, shall we study?"

Izuku nodded, Yuyu's smile spreading to his face as well, and he pondered that her name had a nice ring to it.


End file.
